Information processing apparatus, information processing method, program, and information sharing system

ABSTRACT

There is provided an information processing apparatus communicable with a plurality of content viewing devices via a network, including a viewing information receiving unit for receiving viewing information of a user in the past, present, and future from each of the content viewing devices, a user viewing content management unit for managing a user viewing content DB based on the viewing information received from each of the content viewing devices and a program guide, the user viewing content DB associating, in a form of program guide, past, present, and future contents represented in the program guide and identification information of users who have viewed the past content, those who are viewing the present content, and those who will view the future content, and a viewing information transmitting unit for transmitting the extracted viewing information of another user to the requesting content viewing device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application contains subject matter related to JapanesePatent Application JP 2007-298616 filed in the Japan Patent Office onNov. 16, 2007, the entire contents of which being incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, aninformation processing method, a computer program product, and aninformation sharing system.

2. Description of the Related Art

With computerization of various household electrical appliances inrecent years, TV sets, for example, not only receive and display videoand audio content of programs from broadcasting stations, but also havea function to acquire and display various kinds of information such as aprogram guide. In addition, if a TV set has a network communicationfunction, the TV set can communicate various kinds of information withother TV sets.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

When a user selects content to view in a TV set or the like (e.g., on acomputer monitor, mobile phone, or PDA), the user generally refers to acontent list, such as an electronic program guide, to select content.However, as recognized by the present inventors, in the related art,viewing information of another user can not be displayed with a programguide indicating past, present and future contents. Further, it is alsodifficult to present viewing information of a plurality of other usersin a form of program guide by chronologically classifying the viewinginformation on content basis.

In view of the above issues, there is a need for providing a new andimproved information processing apparatus, information processingmethod, program, and information sharing system capable of selectingcontent, when a user thereof selects content to view by looking up aprogram guide, by referring to viewing information of other usersassociated with the program guide.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is providedan information processing apparatus communicable with a plurality ofcontent viewing devices via a network, including: a viewing informationreceiving unit for receiving, from each of the content viewing devices,viewing information including information representing at least one ofcontent viewed by a user in the past with each of the content viewingdevices, content being viewed by the user at the present, and contentplanned to be viewed by the user in the future; a user viewing contentmanagement unit for managing a user viewing content database based onthe viewing information received from each of the content viewingdevices and a program guide indicating a plurality of contents that canbe provided to each of the content viewing devices, the user viewingcontent database associating, in a form of program guide, past, present,and future contents represented in the program guide and identificationinformation of users who have viewed the past content, those who areviewing the present content, and those who will view the future content;an information extraction unit for extracting the viewing information ofanother user including information representing content viewed byanother user in the past, content being viewed by another user at thepresent, and content to be viewed by another user in the future from theuser viewing content database in response to receipt of a request forthe viewing information of another user from the content viewing device;and a viewing information transmitting unit for transmitting theextracted viewing information of another user to the requesting contentviewing device.

The information processing apparatus, further includes: a user viewingprediction unit for predicting content that may viewed by the user ofeach of the content viewing devices based on the viewing informationreceived from each of the content viewing devices and attributeinformation of content contained in the program guide, wherein the userviewing content management unit generates the user viewing contentdatabase by associating future content represented in the program guideand the user predicted by the user viewing prediction unit to view thefuture content.

Further, the user viewing prediction unit calculates a viewingprobability that the future content will be viewed by the user of eachof the content viewing devices based on a predetermined algorithm usingthe viewing information received from each of the content viewingdevices and the attribute information of content contained in theprogram guide, and the user viewing content management unit generatesthe user viewing content database by associating future contentrepresented in the program guide and information about the viewingprobability calculated by the user viewing prediction unit.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided an information processing method in an information processingapparatus communicable with a plurality of content viewing devices via anetwork, including the steps of: receiving, from each of the contentviewing devices, viewing information including information representingat least one of content viewed by a user in the past with each of thecontent viewing devices, content being viewed by the user at thepresent, and content to be viewed by the user in the future; managing auser viewing content database based on the viewing information receivedfrom each of the content viewing devices and a program guide indicatinga plurality contents that can be provided to each of the content viewingdevices, the user viewing content database associating, in a form ofprogram guide, past, present, and future contents represented in theprogram guide and identification information of users who have viewedthe past content, those who are viewing the present content, and thosewho will view the future content;

extracting the viewing information of another user including informationrepresenting content viewed by another user in the past, content beingviewed by another user at the present, and content to be viewed byanother user in the future from the user viewing content database inresponse to a request for viewing information of another user from thecontent viewing device; and transmitting the extracted viewinginformation of another user to the requesting content viewing device.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a program causing an information processing apparatuscommunicable with a plurality of content viewing devices via a networkto execute the steps of: receiving, from each of the content viewingdevices, viewing information including information representing at leastone of content viewed by a user with in the past each of the contentviewing devices, content being viewed by the user at the present, andcontent to be viewed by the user in the future; managing a user viewingcontent database based on the viewing information received from each ofthe content viewing devices and a program guide indicating a pluralityof contents that can be provided to each of the content viewing devices,the user viewing content database associating, in a form of programguide, past, present, and future contents represented in the programguide and identification information of users who have viewed the pastcontent, those who are viewing the present content, and those who willview the future content; extracting the viewing information of anotheruser including information representing content viewed by another userin the past, content being viewed by another user at the present, andcontent to be viewed by another user in the future from the user viewingcontent database in response to a request for viewing information ofanother user from the content viewing device; and transmitting theextracted viewing information of another user to the requesting contentviewing device.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided an information sharing system including a plurality of contentviewing devices for viewing content provided by a content providingdevice and an information processing apparatus communicable with thecontent viewing devices via a network, wherein the informationprocessing apparatus includes: a viewing information receiving unit forreceiving, from each of the content viewing devices, viewing informationincluding information representing at least one of content viewed by auser in the past with each of the content viewing devices, content beingviewed by the user at the present, and content to be viewed by the userin the future;

a user viewing content management unit for managing a user viewingcontent database based on the viewing information received from each ofthe content viewing devices and a program guide indicating a pluralityof contents that can be provided to each of the content viewing devices,the user viewing content database associates, in a form of programguide, past, present, and future contents represented in the programguide and identification information of users who have viewed the pastcontent, those who are viewing the present content, and those who willview the future content; an information extraction unit for extractingthe viewing information of another user including informationrepresenting content viewed by another user in the past, content beingviewed by another user at the present, and content to be viewed byanother user in the future from the user viewing content database inresponse to a request for viewing information of another user from thecontent viewing device; and a viewing information transmitting unit fortransmitting the extracted viewing information of another user to therequesting content viewing device, and the content viewing deviceincludes: a viewing information transmitting unit for transmitting tothe information processing apparatus the viewing information includinginformation representing at least one of content viewed by a user in thepast with each of the content viewing devices, content being viewed bythe user at the present, and content to be viewed by the user in thefuture; a viewing information receiving unit for receiving the extractedviewing information of another user from the information processingapparatus; and a display unit for displaying the extracted viewinginformation of another user in a form of program guide.

According to these and other embodiments of the present invention,content can be selected by referring to viewing information of otherusers associated with a program guide when a user selects content toview by looking up the program guide.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an informationsharing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of aninformation management server according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a content viewingdevice according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the informationmanagement server according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram of user correlation information(closeness level) according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a user viewing content management unitaccording to the first embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the user viewing content managementunit according to a modification of the first embodiment;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing group information of a group DBaccording to the first embodiment;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing user correlation information ofthe group DB according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing information disclosure levelinformation and information acquisition level information of the groupDB according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing user viewing informationaccording to the first embodiment;

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a user viewing DB according tothe first embodiment;

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a content information DBaccording to the first embodiment;

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a user viewing content DBaccording to the first embodiment;

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing the filtered user viewingcontent DB according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing the user viewing DB accordingto the modification of the present embodiment;

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing the user viewing content DBaccording to the modification of the present embodiment;

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing the filtered user viewingcontent DB according to the modification of the present embodiment;

FIG. 19 is a flow chart showing environment setting processing in theinformation sharing system according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 20 is a flow chart showing a viewing information sharing method inthe information sharing system according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 21 is a flow chart showing filtering processing in the informationsharing system according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram showing a display screen example ofthe content viewing device according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram showing a display screen example ofthe content viewing device according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram showing a display screen example ofthe content viewing device according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 25 is an explanatory diagram showing a display screen example ofthe content viewing device according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 26 is an explanatory diagram showing a display screen example ofthe content viewing device according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 27 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of viewinginformation of other users displayed in program guide form in thecontent viewing device according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 28 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 27;

FIG. 29 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of theviewing information of other users displayed in program guide form inthe content viewing device according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 30 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 29;

FIG. 31 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of theviewing information of other users displayed in program guide form inthe content viewing device according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 32 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of theviewing information of other users displayed in program guide form inthe content viewing device according to the first embodiment; and

FIG. 33 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of displaying aviewing probability of other users in the content viewing deviceaccording to the first embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the appended drawings. Note that,in this specification and the appended drawings, structural elementsthat have substantially the same function and structure are denoted withthe same reference numerals, and repeated explanation of these elementsis omitted.

First Embodiment

First, an overview of an information sharing system according to thefirst embodiment of the present invention will be provided withreference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showingthe information sharing system according to the first embodiment of thepresent invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, an information sharing system 1 according to thepresent embodiment includes a plurality of content viewing devices 10A,10B, 10C, . . . (hereinafter, may generically be called the “contentviewing device 10”) used by a plurality of users A, B, C, . . .respectively, an information management server 20, a broadcasting device7 of a broadcasting station, a content delivery server 9, and a network5 mutually connecting these devices.

The network 5 is a communication network that mutually communicablyconnects the content viewing device 10 and the information managementserver 20 and it makes no difference whether the network 5 is wired orwireless. Public networks such as the Internet, telephone networks, andsatellite communication networks or private networks such as variouskinds of LAN (local area network) including Ethernet (registeredtrademark), WAN (wide area network), and IP-VPN (Internetprotocol-virtual private network) can be used the network 5. Thus, thenetwork 5 is neither restricted to all-wired, or all-wireless networks.

The broadcasting device 7 and the content delivery server 9 areconfigured as an example of content providing device to provide content.The broadcasting device 7 is installed in a broadcasting station andtransmits program content of TV broadcasting to content viewingdevice/devices 10 (devices 10A, 10B, and 10C as shown in FIG. 1, a moredetailed view of which is shown in FIG. 3) via, for example, airwaves orprivate communication networks. Broadcast programs provided by thebroadcasting device 7 may be programs of TV broadcasting of any systemsuch as broadcasting satellite (BS) broadcasting, communicationsatellite (CS) broadcasting, digital terrestrial broadcasting, analogterrestrial broadcasting, and cable broadcasting.

The content delivery server 9 transmits delivery content such as moviesand music to the content viewing devices 10 via the network 5. Thecontent delivery server 9 includes, for example, an IPTV serverproviding program content of IPTV (Internet protocol television), a VODserver providing VOD (video on demand) content, or an electronic musicdelivery server delivering music content.

The content viewing device 10 is a device used for looking and listeningby reproducing content. The content viewing device 10 can be constructedfrom any device that can acquire content from outside and reproduce thecontent. An example in which the content viewing device 10 is a TV setthat receives and reproduces program content of TV broadcasting will bedescribed below (see FIG. 1). However, the content viewing deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present invention is not limited tothis example and may be a personal computer (PC), various kinds ofcomputer devices such as a server device, a record reproducing devicesuch as a DVD/HDD player/record, a home information appliance includinga home game machine, a mobile phone, a PDA (personal digital assistant),a mobile game machine, and a mobile terminal such as a mobilevideo/audio player. The content viewing device can be applied, forexample, to a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone capable ofreceiving and reproducing program content of one-segment broadcasting.

The content viewing device 10 receives content from a content providingdevice such as the broadcasting device 7 and the content delivery server9 via the network 5 and reproduces the content. A user of the contentviewing device 10 can thereby view reproduced content. Here, viewingincludes looking at reproduced content of video content, listening toreproduced content of audio content, or both. When content is programcontent, both an action of looking at program video and that oflistening to program audio correspond to viewing. The content viewingdevice 10 can also acquire content from the other content viewingdevices 10 via the network 5 or a removable recording medium (seereference numeral 128 in FIG. 3) such as an optical disk (for example,DVD or CD) or memory card.

Content to be viewed in the content viewing device 10 may be any kind ofcontent, for example, video content consisting of still images or movingimages constituting TV programs, movies, video programs, photos,pictures, or graphics, audio content such as music, lectures, and radioprograms, E-book, games, and software. Hereinafter, program content ofTV broadcasting is taken as an example of content to describe thepresent embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to thisexample.

The content viewing device 10 stores information (viewing information)about content viewing by users of the content viewing device 10 itself.The viewing information is information representing a viewing history ofcontent, viewing settings, and user viewing states and details thereofwill be described later. The content viewing device 10 transmits viewinginformation of users of the content viewing device 10 to the informationmanagement server 20 via the network 5. The content viewing device 10also receives viewing information of other users of the other contentviewing devices 10 (e.g., devices 10A, 10B or 10C in FIG. 1) from theinformation management server 20 via the network 5 and displays thereceived viewing information of other users by associating with content.For example, the content viewing device 10A of the user A transmitsinformation indicating content A currently being viewed by the user A tothe information management server 20 as viewing information of the userA. Then, the content viewing device 10A receives information indicatingthe other users B and C currently viewing the same content A from theinformation management server 20 as viewing information of the users Band C and displays the information in parallel with video of the contentA being reproduced. Accordingly, the user A can know that the otherusers B and C are viewing the same content A.

The information management server 20 is an example of the informationprocessing apparatus of the present invention and has a function tomanage viewing information of users in each of the content viewingdevices 10. The information management server 20 is constituted by acomputer device and can communicate with each of the content viewingdevices 10 via the network 5. The information management server 20receives viewing information of each user from each of the contentviewing devices 10 and stores the viewing information in a database byassociating with a content program guide. Then, in response to a requestfrom the content viewing device 10, the information management server 20transmits viewing information of other users to the content viewingdevice 10. Accordingly, viewing information of each user can be sharedamong the plurality of content viewing devices 10 of the plurality ofusers so that the user can know mutual viewing status.

In the foregoing, an outline configuration of the information sharingsystem 1 according to the present embodiment has been described. Thecontent viewing device 10 and the information management server 20constituting the information sharing system 1 will be described below.

First, the hardware configuration of the information management server20 according to the present invention will be described with referenceto FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configurationof the information management server 20.

As shown in FIG. 2, the information management server 20 includes, forexample, a CPU (central processing unit) 101, a ROM (read only memory)102, a RAM (random access memory) 103, a host bus 104, a bridge 105, anexternal bus 106, an interface 107, an input device 108, an outputdevice 109, a storage device (HDD) 110, a drive 111, a connection port112, and a communication device 113. As described above, the informationmanagement server 20 can be constituted, for example, by using a generalinformation processing apparatus.

The CPU 101 functions as an arithmetic processing unit and also as acontrol device, operates following various programs, and controls eachcomponent in the information management server 20. The CPU 101 performsvarious kinds of processing following programs stored in the ROM 102 orprograms load from the storage device 110 into the RAM 103. The ROM 102stores programs, operations parameters and the like used by the CPU 101and also functions as a buffer to alleviate access to the storage device110. The RAM 103 temporarily stores programs used for execution of theCPU 101, parameters changing appropriately for execution thereof and thelike. These devices are mutually connected by the host bus 104 made of aCPU bus or the like. The host bus 104 is connected to the external bus106 such as a PCI (peripheral component interconnect/interface) bus viathe bridge 105.

The input device 108 is constituted by an operation device such as amouse, keyboard, touch panel, button, switch, and lever, and an inputcontrol circuit to generate an input signal and to output the inputsignal to the CPU 101. The output device 109 is constituted by, forexample, by a display device such as a CRT (cathode ray tube) displaydevice, liquid crystal display (LCD) device, and lamp and an audiooutput device such as a speaker.

The storage device 110 is constituted as an example of the storage unitof the information management server 20 according to the presentembodiment. The storage device 110 is a device for storing various kindsof information and is constituted, for example, by a HDD (hard diskdrive). The storage device 110 drives a hard disk, which is a recordingmedium, and stores programs executed by the CPU 101 and various kinds ofdata. The drive 111 is a recording medium reader/writer and is containedin the information management server 20 or externally connected. Thedrive 111 writes/reads various kinds of data to/from a removablerecording medium such as a magnetic disk, optical disk, magneto-opticaldisk, and semiconductor memory loaded into the information managementserver 20.

The connection port 112 is a port for connecting an external peripheraldevice and has a connection terminal such as the USB and IEEE1394. Theconnection port 112 is connected to the CPU 101 via the interface 107and the external bus 106, the bridge 105, the host bus 104 or the like.The communication device 113 is a communication interface constitutedby, for example, a communication device for connecting to the network 5.The communication device 113 transmits/receives various kinds of datato/from external devices such as the content viewing device 10 via thenetwork 5.

If the content viewing device 10 is constituted by an informationprocessing apparatus such as a personal computer, a configurationsubstantially the same as that of the information management server 20can be adopted. If the content viewing device 10 is a TV set or thelike, a known configuration can be adopted and therefore, a detaileddescription of the hardware configuration of the content viewing device10 is omitted.

Next, the configuration of the content viewing device 10 according tothe present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 3. FIG.3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the content viewingdevice 10 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 3, the content viewing device 10 includes a contentmanagement unit 120, a content display control unit 130, a display unit132, a level setting instruction unit 134, a viewing informationgeneration unit 136, a recognition unit 138, an input unit 140, aviewing information transmitting unit 142, a viewing informationreceiving unit 144, a viewing information display control unit 146, anda superimposing unit 148.

The content management unit 120 manages viewing of content in thecontent viewing device 10. The content management unit 120 has, forexample, a content acquisition unit 122, a content reproducing unit 124,and a viewing history management unit 126.

The content acquisition unit 122 has a function to acquire content fromexternal devices. For example, the content acquisition unit 122 receivesprogram content transmitted from the broadcasting device 7 via anantenna 127. At this point, the content acquisition unit 122 functionsas a tuner of broadcast programs and tunes to a channel specified by theuser to receive a program from the channel. Moreover, the contentacquisition unit 122 receives delivered content transmitted from thecontent delivery server 9 via the network 5 and the communication device113 (see FIG. 2). The content acquisition unit 122 also reads contentstored in the removable recording medium 128 loaded into the contentviewing device 10 using the drive 111 (not shown). Any recording mediumsuch as a next-generation optical disk (a BLU-RAY disk and the like),DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, or an optical disk such as a magneto-opticaldisk, a memory card made of various kinds of semiconductor memory suchas a flash memory can be used as the removable recording medium 128.

The content reproducing unit 124 has a function to reproduce contentacquired from the external devices. The content reproducing unit 124functions, for example, as a decoder for decoding content data. Thecontent reproducing unit 124 outputs video data of content acquired byreproduction processing to the display unit 132 and audio data to aspeaker (not shown).

The viewing history management unit 126 manages a history of viewing ofcontent in the content viewing device 10. The history of viewingincludes information of content viewed in the past, content being viewedat the present, and content planned to be viewed in the future (contentset for viewing or recording in the future by the user). For example,the viewing history management unit 126 can acquire a history of viewingin the past and the present by managing a history of reproduction by thecontent reproducing unit 124 and also acquire planned viewing in thefuture by managing viewing settings or recording settings by the user.The viewing history management unit 126 stores such a history of viewingin a viewing history database (not shown). Moreover, the viewing historymanagement unit 126 outputs a history of viewing of content in thecontent viewing device 10 to the viewing information generation unit136.

The content display control unit 130 performs image processing fordisplaying content reproduced by the content reproducing unit 124 in thedisplay unit 132. For example, the content display control unit 130generates a display screen by reconstructing frames of video data of thereproduced content and adjusts the display position, size, display areaand the like of video data of content in the screen of the display unit132.

The display unit 132 is constituted by a display device and displaysvideo of content input from the content display control unit 130 orviewing information of other users input from a viewing informationdisplay control unit 146 described later.

The level setting instruction unit 134 transmits, based on user input tothe input unit 140, level setting instructions including shared levelinformation (such as user correlation information, informationdisclosure level information, and information acquisition levelinformation) of users of the content viewing device 10 to theinformation management server 20 to instruct level settings of suchinformation. Details of the shared level information will be describedlater.

The viewing information generation unit 136 generates viewinginformation of content by users in the content viewing device 10. Theviewing information generation unit 136 generates, based on, forexample, a viewing history input from the content management unit 120,user input data to the input unit 140, or video/audio data on viewingspace or users recognized by the recognition unit 138, viewinginformation of users of the content. The viewing informationtransmitting unit 142 transmits viewing information generated by theviewing information generation unit 136 to the information managementserver 20 via the network 5.

Here, viewing information will be described in detail. The viewinginformation is information representing viewed content in the contentviewing device 10 (means “at least content viewed in the past by theuser in the content viewing device 10, or content being viewed at thepresent, or content planned to be viewed in the future” and this alsoapplies below) (see FIG. 11). Viewing information is naturally differentfrom user to user of the content viewing device 10 and, preferences ofeach user of the content viewing device 10 can be known from suchviewing information.

Viewing information according to the present embodiment includes, forexample,

(1) Information about viewed content in the content viewing device 10(hereinafter, “viewed content information”),

(2) Information representing the enthusiasm degree of the user forcontent viewing (hereinafter, “enthusiasm degree information”),

(3) Viewing state information representing the viewing state of the userfor content, and

(4) Information representing on/off of power of the content viewingdevice 10.

Viewed content information in (1) includes identification information ofviewed content (for example, the channel, content ID, and program name)in the content viewing device 10. Based on the viewed contentinformation, content being viewed (or viewed in the past or planned tobe viewed) by the user can be identified.

Enthusiasm degree information in (2) is, for example, informationrepresenting an impression of viewed content, information whether theviewing state of the user is “viewing while doing something else” or“riveted on the TV screen”, or information representing feelings of theuser. Methods of acquiring the enthusiasm degree information include,for example, input of text information (for example, “pleasant!” and“uninteresting”) to the input unit 140 by the user, input of parameters(for example, the index of enthusiasm degree 0 to 100%), and selectioninput from choices representing the degree of enthusiasm displayed inthe screen (for example, button selection from marks of “joy”, “anger”,“pity”, and “pleasure”). Based on such enthusiasm degree information, itis possible to know preferences and feelings of other users and sharecontent viewing with other users.

Viewing state information in (3) represents the viewing state of theuser, for example, when, where, and with whom the user of the contentviewing device 10 viewed what content for how long and in which way.Information about the viewing time of content such as the viewing starttime and viewing duration can be acquired from the reproductionexecution time and recording time of content currently being broadcastor content recorded in the past, and the time of content set to recordin the future. Moreover, information such as presence of the user nearthe content viewing device 10, face recognition of the viewing user,voice recognition, and the number of viewers can be acquired byperforming image processing/voice processing of image or video dataobtained by using the recognition unit 138 (such as a camera,microphone, and sensor) provided in the content viewing device 10. Basedon the viewing state information, the viewing state of other users canbe known.

Based on information in (4) representing on/off of power of the contentviewing device 10, whether any other user is viewing and presence of theuser in the installation location (for example, the user's home) of thecontent viewing device 10 can be known.

In the foregoing, content of the viewing information according to thepresent embodiment has been described. The viewing informationgeneration unit 136 in FIG. 3 generates viewing information (see FIG.11) as described above and the viewing information transmitting unit 142transmits the viewing information to the information management server20 via the network 5. Such viewing information is transmitted to theinformation management server 20, for example, each time content isviewed or a recording setting or viewing setting is executed. However,the present invention is not limited to this example and viewinginformation may be transmitted periodically or at an optional time, forexample, when the content viewing device 10 is turned on or a request istransmitted from the information management server 20.

The viewing information transmitting unit 142 receives viewinginformation of other users from the information management server 20 viathe network 5. The viewing information of other users received here isinformation after being filtered appropriately from viewing informationof many users. Details of the filtering processing will be describedlater.

The viewing information display control unit 146 performs imageprocessing necessary for displaying viewing information of other usersinput from the viewing information transmitting unit 142 in the displayunit 132. For example, the viewing information display control unit 146converts the received viewing information of other users into userinformation representing the other users (for example, marks assigned toeach user, icons, and face images) to display the user information ordisplays the received viewing information of other users in programguide form by associating with a program guide of content. Moreover, theviewing information display control unit 146 adjusts the displayposition, size, and display area of viewing information of other usersin the screen of the display unit 132.

The superimposing unit 148 superimposes an image of information of otherusers output from the viewing information display control unit 146 on animage of video content output from the content display control unit 130before displaying the superimposed image. Accordingly, information aboutother users viewing (or have viewed or planning to view) the content isdisplayed in the display unit 132 of the content viewing device 10 inparallel with video of content being reproduced. Thus, the user can knowother users who view the same content as the user. A concrete example ofthe display screen in which viewing information of other users issuperimposed will be described later.

The user can operate the content viewing device 10 not only through theinput unit 104, but also by using the remote controller 3. For example,the user can dynamically adjust the shared level of viewing informationof other users by operating the lever of the remote controller 3 whileviewing content, but details thereof will be described later.

Next, the configuration of the information management server 20according to the present embodiment will be described with reference toFIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of theinformation management server 20 according to the present embodiment. Ina description below, FIG. 8 to FIG. 18 will be referred to suitably todescribe information handled by the information management server 20 andthe configuration of a database.

As shown in FIG. 4, the information management server 20 roughlyincludes a communication unit 200 for performing data communication withthe content viewing device 10 of each user via the network 5, a userinformation management unit 210 for managing shared level information ofa plurality of users belonging to the same group, and a user viewingcontent management unit 220 for managing content viewing information ofeach user.

The communication unit 200 includes a shared level receiving unit 202from the content viewing device 10 of each user, a viewing informationreceiving unit 204, an acquisition request receiving unit 206, and aviewing information transmitting unit 208. The shared level receivingunit 202 receives shared level information instructed by each user toset. The viewing information receiving unit 204 receives viewinginformation of each user from the content viewing device 10 of eachuser. The acquisition request receiving unit 206 receives a viewinginformation request, which is a command for requesting from the contentviewing device 10 of some user acquisition of viewing information ofother users. The viewing information transmitting unit 208 transmitsviewing information of other users corresponding to each user concernedgenerated by a filtering unit 218 described later to the content viewingdevice 10 of each user.

The communication unit 200 includes a group registration unit 212, ashared level setting unit 214, a group database 216 (hereinafter,referred to as the “group DB 216”), and the filtering unit 218. Thegroup registration unit 212 registers users of the content viewingdevice 10 as a group. The shared level setting unit 214 sets sharedlevel information among users in the same group. The group DB 216 storesgroup information and shared level information. The filtering unit 218filters viewing information to be provided to each of the contentviewing devices 10. Each unit will be described in detail below.

The group registration unit 212 divides users of each of the contentviewing devices 10 into specific groups/communities, which areregistered with the group DB 216 as groups. The user groups canoptionally be set, like groups, for example, in SNS (social networkingservice), in accordance with various user attributes (such as the age,sex, hobbies, preferences, place of residence, jobs, and friends). Afterreceiving a group registration request from the user of the contentviewing devices 10, the group registration unit 212 performs userauthentication processing and then registers users by creating a newgroup or adding users to an existing group. A group is registered, asshown, for example, in FIG. 8, by registering a user ID of a userbelonging to the group and group information in which the user and auser name are associated with the group DB 216. The group DB 216 isstored in the storage device 110 (see FIG. 2) of the informationmanagement server 20 or the like.

The shared level setting unit 214 sets, based on level settinginstructions received from the content viewing device 10 of each user,shared level information among users belong to the same group. A levelsetting instruction is a command received by the shared level receivingunit 202 from each of the content viewing devices 10 and includes sharedlevel information instructed by each user to set. Shared levelinformation is information representing the shared level of viewinginformation among a plurality of users belonging to the same group. Theshared level information includes user correlation information,information disclosure level information, and information acquisitionlevel information.

The user correlation information is information representing a closenesslevel among users belonging to the same group and is set to a levelvalue in accordance with closeness among users. FIG. 5 is a conceptualdiagram of user correlation information (closeness level). As shown inFIG. 5, the level value (closeness level value) of user correlationinformation is set, for example, on a scale of 1 to 5 and becomes largeras closeness among users increases. For example, the level value of usercorrelation information is set to “5” when the closeness level is highsuch as family members and friends, and the level value of usercorrelation information is set to “1” when the closeness level is lowsuch as others.

The user A sets the level value of user correlation information asdescribed above in accordance with closeness for each of other users B,C, . . . in the group. That is, the user A operates the content viewingdevice 10 to input the desired level value of user correlationinformation for each of other users B, C, . . . and instructs thesetting. Then, setting instructions including user correlationinformation of the set level values are transmitted from the contentviewing device 10 to the information management server 20 and theinformation management server 20 sets the received level values to thegroup DB 216 as user correlation information of the user A (see FIG. 9).

FIG. 9 shows a concrete example of user correlation information(closeness level information). As shown in FIG. 9, level values of eachof the three users A, B, and C with respect to other users are set. Asfor the user A, the closeness level value of the user B of the user ID“0002” is set to “3”, showing that closeness between the user A and theuser B is a middle level (such as ordinary acquaintances). Also, thecloseness level value of the user C of the user ID “0003” is set to “2”,showing that closeness between the user A and the user C is a littleestranged (such as company colleagues). Further, the closeness levelvalue of the user D of the user ID “0004” is set to “5”, showing thatcloseness between the user A and the user D is the closest (such asfamily members or friends).

Such level values of user correlation information function as thereference when viewing information of other users is filtered based oninformation disclosure level information and information acquisitionlevel information described later. Therefore, such user correlationinformation is statically set by each user in advance and the levelvalue thereof can suitably be changed, but should not be dynamicallychanged while content is being viewed.

Next, the information disclosure level information and informationacquisition level information will be described. The informationdisclosure level information is information showing the range (forexample, the closeness level) of other users to whom some user permitshis (her) viewing information to be disclosed. The informationacquisition level information is information showing the range (forexample, the closeness level) of other users from whom some useracquires viewing information.

Like the user correlation information (closeness level), the informationdisclosure level information and information acquisition levelinformation are set to level values in accordance with the user-desiredinformation disclosure level or information acquisition level. Forexample, in the above example in FIG. 5, the level value of informationdisclosure level information and that of information acquisition levelinformation (hereinafter, called the “information disclosure levelvalue” and “information acquisition level value” respectively) are seton a scale of 1 to 5 (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5). Then, users for whom the levelvalue (closeness level value) of the user correlation information is sethigher than the information disclosure level value/informationacquisition level value are included in the range of users forinformation disclosure/information acquisition.

In the example in FIG. 5, for example, closeness levels of the users Band C to the user A are “3” and “2” respectively. If, in this case, theinformation disclosure level value/information acquisition level valueset by the user A is “3”, while the user B is included for informationdisclosure/information acquisition (the closeness level value “3”≧ theinformation disclosure/information acquisition level value “3”), theuser C is not included (the closeness level value “2”< the informationdisclosure/information acquisition level value “3”). If the informationdisclosure level value/information acquisition level value set by theuser A is “1”, the user B and user C are included for informationdisclosure/information acquisition (the closeness level values “3”,“2”≧the information disclosure/information acquisition level value “1”).

Like the user correlation information (closeness level), suchinformation disclosure level information and information acquisitionlevel information are also set in accordance with user input to thecontent viewing device 10. That is, the user A operates the contentviewing device 10 to input the information disclosure levelvalues/information acquisition level values with respect to the otherusers B, C, . . . and instructs the settings. Then, setting instructionsincluding the set information disclosure level values/informationacquisition level values are transmitted from the content viewing device10 to the information management server 20 and the informationmanagement server 20 sets the received level values in the group DB 216as information disclosure level information/information acquisitionlevel information of the user A (see FIG. 10).

FIG. 10 shows a concrete example of information disclosure levelinformation and information acquisition level information. As shown inFIG. 10, the information disclosure level value/information acquisitionlevel value with respect to other users are set for each of the threeusers A, B, and C by associating with the user ID. As for the user A,for example, the information disclosure level value is set to “3” andthe information acquisition level value is also set to “3”. This showsthat, among users in the group, the user A permits disclosure of his(her) viewing information to other users with whom closeness is a middlelevel (such as ordinary acquaintances) and desires acquisition ofviewing information of such other users.

By setting the information disclosure level value and the informationacquisition level value to the same level value like this, viewinginformation can be shared on an equal footing with a partner. If thelevels values are set like “the information disclosure level value>theinformation acquisition level value”, the range of acquisition ofviewing information can be made wider than that of disclosure.Conversely, if the levels values are set like “the informationdisclosure level value<the information acquisition level value”, therange of disclosure of viewing information can be made wider than thatof acquisition. The user can, as described above, freely set theinformation disclosure level value and the information acquisition levelvalue in accordance with relations with other users in the group and therange of users with whom sharing (disclosure/acquisition) of viewinginformation is desired.

In contrast to the level value of user correlation information, theinformation disclosure level value/information acquisition level valuecan freely be set at any time in accordance with a desire of the user.Thus, the information disclosure level value/information acquisitionlevel value can dynamically be set and changed when, for example, theuser is viewing content using the content viewing device 10. The rangeof viewing information of other users displayed in the content viewingdevice 10 can also be dynamically changed by such dynamic settingchanges.

The shared level setting unit 214 sets, as described above, theinformation disclosure levels and information acquisition levels amongusers belong to a group to the group DB 216 based on level settinginstructions from the content viewing device 10 of each user.

Next, the filtering unit 218 will be described. After performingfiltering processing based on shared level information among users setin the group DB 216, as described above, the filtering unit 218extracts, in response to a request from each user, viewing informationof other users linked to content being viewed from a user viewingcontent database 228 of the user viewing content management unit 220described later and provides the viewing information to the contentviewing device 10 of each user.

The filtering unit 218 is an example of a selection unit and aninformation extraction unit of the present invention. The selection unithas a function, in response to a viewing information request of otherusers received from the content viewing device 10, to select other usersfitting conditions of shared level information (user correlationinformation, information disclosure level information, and informationacquisition level information) set in the group DB 216 from among otherusers belonging to the same group as the user of the content viewingdevice that made the request. The information extraction unit has afunction to extract viewing information of the other users selected bythe selection unit.

The filtering unit 218 performs filtering processing of viewinginformation of other users to be provided to each of the content viewingdevices 10 based on the information disclosure levels and informationacquisition levels set by each user. Accordingly, privacy can be managedby limiting other users whose viewing information should be disclosed inaccordance with user settings and also the range of other users fromwhom acquisition of viewing information is desired by a user can beadjusted. Details of such filtering processing will be described later(see FIG. 21).

Next, the user viewing content management unit 220 shown in FIG. 4 willbe described. The user viewing content management unit 220 includes auser viewing database 222 (hereinafter, called the “user viewing DB222”), a content information database 224, (hereinafter, called the“content information DB 224”), a matching unit 226, and a user viewingcontent database 228 (hereinafter, called the “user viewing content DB228”). The user viewing DB 222, the content information DB 224, and theuser viewing content DB 228 are stored in the storage device 110 (seeFIG. 2) of the information management server 20 or the like. Each unitwill be described in detail below.

The user viewing content management unit 220 collects viewinginformation of content of each user from each of the content viewingdevices 10 and stores the viewing information in the user viewing DB222. In this manner, viewing information of each user received by theviewing information receiving unit 204 from each of the content viewingdevices 10 is first stored in the user viewing DB 222. A concreteexample of the viewing information will be described below.

FIG. 11 shows a concrete example of viewing information of the user Atransmitted from the content viewing device 10 to the informationmanagement server 20. As shown in FIG. 11, when program content of TVbroadcasting or VOD content is viewed in the content viewing device 10,viewing information is generated by the content viewing device 10 andtransmitted to the information management server 20. The viewinginformation includes, for example, the media providing viewed content,channel, content ID, viewing start time, viewing duration, and plannedviewing of content in the future (viewing setting, recording setting orthe like). Viewed content of a user can be identified from the contentID, which is identification information of content, viewing setting, andmedia, channel, and viewing start time, which are content attributeinformation. The viewing state of content can be known from the viewingduration or the like.

The user viewing content management unit 220 analyzes viewinginformation transmitted from the plurality of content viewing devices 10and stores the viewing information in the user viewing DB 222 byclassifying the viewing information by user. At this point, the user IDof the content viewing device 10 that transmitted the viewinginformation, viewing ID, and viewing attributes are added to the viewinginformation.

FIG. 12 shows a concrete example of viewing information of the user Astored in the user viewing DB 222. As shown in FIG. 12, informationabout viewed content (for example, the viewing ID, viewing date/time,content identification information, and viewing attributes) of the userA is arranged, for example, chronologically in the user viewing DB 222.“Viewing ID” is an ID uniquely attached each time content is viewed bythe user A. “Viewing date/time” is a date/time when viewed content wasviewed. “Content identification information” includes the channel andcontent ID in the example, but in addition, the G code used for arecording setting may also be used. If only the content ID is used asidentification information of content, it is necessary for the contentID alone to be able to uniquely identify content. Otherwise, the contentID and the viewing date/time may be combined.

“Viewing attributes” are attribute information for classifying viewedcontent in accordance with the viewing date/time. In the “viewingattributes”, “past history” shows that the user A viewed contentbroadcast in the past, “present state” shows that the user A iscurrently viewing content currently being broadcast, and “plannedviewing” shows that the user A has made a recording setting or viewingsetting of content to be broadcast in the future and plans to view thecontent.

Information about viewed content as shown above is stored in the userviewing DB 222 for each user in the group. Though the above enthusiasmdegree information and viewing state information are not shown in theexample in FIG. 12, if such information is contained in the viewinginformation, the information is stored in the user viewing DB 222.

Next, the content information DB 224 will be described. The contentinformation DB 224 stores information about a plurality of pieces ofcontent that can be provided from a content providing device (such asthe broadcasting device 7 and the content delivery server 9 in FIG. 1)to each of the content viewing devices 10, for example, a program guideof content of TV broadcasting. For example, the content information DB224 is a database created as a metadata database suited to the system byadding meta information and attribute information about content to anelectronic program guide (EPG) of TV broadcasting. The user viewingcontent management unit 220 of the information management server 20acquires a program guide from an external program guide providing device(for example, an EPG provider) or the like via the network 5 or the likeand adds predetermined meta information and attribute informationnecessary for use in the content sharing system 1 to the program guidebefore storing the program guide in the content information DB 224.

FIG. 13 shows a concrete example of the program guide stored in thecontent information DB 224. As shown in FIG. 13, the content informationDB 224 stores a plurality of program guides that can be provided to eachof the content viewing devices 10 (that is, a plurality of pieces ofcontent that can be viewed in each of the content viewing devices 10).The program guide is chronological information of content IDs in eachchannel. In the program guide of the example shown in FIG. 13, theprovision date/time (such as the broadcasting date/time and deliverydate/time) of content to the content viewing device 10, content ID ofprogram content of a predetermined broadcasting channel broadcast fromthe broadcasting device 7, and content ID of program content of apredetermined delivery channel delivered from the content deliveryserver 9 are associated. The program guide shows that, for example, inthe 12:00 time zone, program content whose content ID is “03” isbroadcast in the broadcasting channel and program content whose contentID is “13” is delivered in the delivery channel.

Next, the matching unit 226 in FIG. 4 will be described. The matchingunit 226 constructs the user viewing content DB 228 by matching the userviewing DB 222 and the content information DB 224. The user viewingcontent DB 228 is a database associating content IDs of a plurality ofpieces of content (content of the program guide) that can be provided toeach of the content viewing devices 10 and user IDs (viewing userinformation) of users viewing the content (see FIG. 14) and representsviewed content of each user in the same group.

The matching unit 226 will be further described with reference to FIG.6. As shown in FIG. 6, the matching unit 226 checks identificationinformation (content ID) of content contained in a program guide readfrom the content information DB 224 against identification information(such as the content ID, channel, and viewing time) of viewed content ofeach user read from the user viewing DB 222 to associate each piece ofcontent contained in the program guide with user IDs of users viewingthe relevant content. Accordingly, the user viewing content DB 228 iscreated in which information obtained by sorting viewing information ofa plurality of users in the group according to content in the programguide is stored (see FIG. 14). In the present embodiment, all viewedcontent whose viewing state is “past history”, “present state”, or“planned viewing” as described above is associated with content of theprogram guide, which is chronological information, by such matchingprocessing.

FIG. 14 shows a concrete example of the user viewing content DB 228. Asshown in FIG. 14, the provision date/time of content, content ID ofcontent of each broadcasting channel broadcast to the content viewingdevice 10, and viewing user information (user ID) representing users whoviewed content are associated. For example, the user ID of the user A isassociated with content of the content ID “01” broadcast in the past,showing that only the user A and user C of the users A, B, C, . . . inthe group viewed the content. Similarly, the user IDs of the users A, B,and C are associated with content of content ID “03” currently beingbroadcast, showing that the users A, B, and C are currently viewing thecontent. No user ID of users is associated with content of content ID“02” broadcast in the past, showing that no user in the group viewed thecontent. The user ID of the user D and a viewing probability thereof of80% are associated with content of content ID “04” to be broadcast inthe future. A predetermined value “80%” may normally be assigned to theviewing probability when a planned recording is made or the viewingprobability may be calculated based on a past viewing history of theuser or viewing probabilities of content of other planned recordings.

The user viewing content management unit 220 generates the user viewingcontent DB 228, as described above, and updates the user viewing contentDB 228 by adding/deleting/changing viewing user information each timenew viewing information is received from the content viewing device 10.With the user viewing content DB 228 being managed by the user viewingcontent management unit 220 in this manner, the information managementserver 20 can normally maintain a content program guide associated withthe latest viewing user information.

Next, the filtering unit 218 of the user information management unit 210will be described again in detail. The filtering unit 218 performsfiltering processing of viewing user information contained in the userviewing content DB 228 based on shared level information set in thegroup DB 216.

More specifically, when a viewing information request that requestsacquisition of viewing information of other users from the contentviewing device 10, the filtering unit 218 first identifies the user A ofthe content viewing device 10 making the request and reads shared levelinformation containing settings of the group to which the requestinguser A belongs from the group DB 216. Next, the filtering unit 218selects the other users B to D of levels set by the user A foracquisition of viewing information from among other users B to Z in thegroup based on user correlation information (closeness level value)contained in the shared level information of the group and theinformation acquisition level value of the user A (first filteringprocessing). Further, the filtering unit 218 selects the other user Bwho sets the user A for disclosure of viewing information from theselected other users B to D based on the user correlation information(closeness level value) and the information disclosure level value ofthe selected other users B to D (second filtering processing).

Then, the filtering unit 218 extracts viewing information (such asviewing user information, content ID, date/time and the like) of theother user B selected from the other users B to D in the group from theuser viewing content DB 228 and transmits the viewing information to thecontent viewing device 10 of the requesting user A.

FIG. 15 shows the user viewing content DB 228 filtered for the user A.In the user viewing content DB 228, as shown in FIG. 15, viewing userinformation of the user C excluded by the above filtering processingfrom viewing user information of the users A to D associated withcontent is deleted. Then, information associating viewing userinformation (user ID) of the users B and D excluding the user C, contentIDs, and dates/times is transmitted as viewing information of otherusers to the content viewing device 10 of the user A from the userviewing content DB 228. The user A can thereby acquire viewinginformation of the other users B and D who set the user A forinformation disclosure from the other users B to D in the range of usersset by the user A for information acquisition. Accordingly, viewinginformation of users of closeness desired by the user A can be providedto the user A while protecting privacy of the users B to Z in the group.

In the information management server 20 according to the presentembodiment, as described above, shared level information is set in theinformation management server 20 and, based on the shared levelinformation, viewing information of users against each of the contentviewing devices 10 will be filtered out. Accordingly, privacy of usersin the group can be managed and also the range of informationacquisition can be adjusted in accordance with preferences of users.

Next, a modification of the matching unit of the information managementserver 20 according to the present embodiment will be described withreference to FIGS. 16 to 18. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing theconfiguration of the matching unit for making a future predictionaccording to a modification of the present embodiment, and FIGS. 16 to18 are explanatory diagrams showing the configuration of a database as aresult of making a future prediction according to the modification ofthe present embodiment.

The matching unit 226 of the user viewing content management unit 220generates the user viewing content DB 228 containing viewing userinformation whose viewing attribute is “past history”, “present state”,or “planned viewing” (see FIG. 15). In contrast, a matching unit 230according to the modification generates, in addition to “past history”,“present state”, and “planned viewing”, viewing user information whoseviewing attribute is “future prediction” and adds this information tothe user viewing content DB 228 as viewing user information. The viewingattribute “future prediction” indicates that there is a possibility thata user will view content to be broadcast in the future. “Futureprediction” will be described below in detail.

The matching unit 230 generates future prediction information (forexample, the probability 0 to 100%) of a user following a predeterminedestimation algorithm based on a viewing history and preferences of theuser. More concretely, the matching unit 230 analyzes viewingsetting/recording setting information obtained from the content viewingdevice 10 of the user and viewing history information stored in theinformation management server 20 to calculate the probability that theuser will view content planned to be broadcast in the future. If, forexample, a broadcast program is serial content such as a drama, whetherthe user will view the content next time can be known to some degree byanalyzing the viewing history of the serial content broadcast in thepast or whether viewing is set for the content next time. Even ifcontent is not a serial, viewing trends and preferences of the user canbe judged by analyzing attribute information of content viewed by theuser in the past so that the probability of viewing similar content canbe calculated.

Thus, the matching unit 230 shown in FIG. 7 calculates the probabilitythat a user will view a plurality of pieces of future content containedin a program guide used a predetermined estimation algorithm based onviewing information of the user to make a future prediction. Here, forexample, an estimation algorithm using the formula (1) below can be usedas the predetermined estimation algorithm. An outline thereof will beprovided below. The Formula (1) is a formula for determining a viewingprobability (UM, PRG).

$\begin{matrix}\left\lbrack {{Formula}\mspace{14mu} 1} \right\rbrack & \; \\{{{Viewing}\mspace{14mu} {{probability}\left( {{U\; M},{PRG}} \right)}} = \frac{\sum\limits_{i}^{\;}\left( {U\; {M(i)} \times {{PRG}(i)}} \right)}{\sqrt{\sum\limits_{i}^{\;}{U\; {M(i)}^{2}}} \times \sqrt{\sum\limits_{i}^{\;}{{PRG}(i)}^{2}}}} & (1)\end{matrix}$

In the Formula (1), “UM” is a user model vector and “PRG” is a programvector.

The program vector (PRG) is a vector representing characteristics ofcontent (program) and is determined by data mining of content metadata.For example, the genre, performers, and keywords extracted from commentsof content become components of a content vector.

The user model vector (UM) is a vector representing preferences of auser and is determined by learning processing (for example, whenrecording processing of some program is performed, content (such asperformers and keywords) contained in the program vector is added to theuser model vector (UM)) based on an operation log such as contentviewing behavior of the user and initial input of the user (for example,added to the user model vector (UM) based on favorite genres andshow-business personalities).

The user model vector (UM) and program vector (PRG) are calculated byapplying the Formula (1) to calculate the degree of preferences of theuser for the program and by normalizing the degree of preferences forall pieces of content, the future prediction (UM, PRG) of each piece ofcontent can be calculated.

To perform the above estimation algorithm, in addition to theconfiguration in FIG. 6, the matching unit 230 shown in FIG. 7 furtherhas a user viewing prediction unit 232. The user viewing prediction unit232 predicts content each user may view based on viewing information ofeach user received from each of the content viewing devices 10 andattribute information of content contained in a program guide in thecontent information DB 224 and calculates viewing probabilities thereof.In program content contained in a program guide, attribute informationsuch as the category of program, characters, genre, ages for viewing,and degree of variety is determined in advance on a program contentbasis. The user viewing prediction unit 232 makes a future prediction ofa user after matching of attribute information of the program contentand preference information of the user for all pieces of content.

The user viewing prediction unit 232 includes a user attribute UMcalculation unit 234, a content attribute PRG calculation unit 236, anda user viewing probability calculation unit 238.

The user attribute UM calculation unit 234 calculates a user modelvector (UM) representing preferences of the user by leaning processingbased on viewing information of each user read from the user viewing DB222 or initial input of the user. Based on attribute information ofcontent contained in a program guide read from the content informationDB 224, the content attribute PRG calculation unit 236 calculates aprogram vector (PRG) representing characteristics of content (program).The user viewing probability calculation unit 238 calculates viewingprobabilities (UM, PRG) of the user for each of a plurality of pieces offuture content contained in the program guide by applying the calculateduser model vector (UM) and program vector (PRG) to the formula (1). Thepredetermined estimation algorithm is not limited to the above exampleand, for example, an estimation algorithm described in Japanese PatentApplication Laid-Open No. 2005-57713, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety, may be used.

Using the estimation algorithm described above, the matching unit 230predicts content that each user may view from content contained in aprogram guide and also can calculate viewing probabilities of suchcontent. The matching unit 230 adds the future-predicted viewinginformation of the user to viewing information of each user in the userviewing DB 222.

For example, the user viewing DB 222 shown in FIG. 16 has, as a futureprediction of the user A for content in the future, a future predictionassociating the viewing ID “777”, content ID “1112233”, viewingdate/time “March 11, 09:00”, and viewing attribute “future prediction(80%)” added thereto.

The matching unit 230 also generates the user viewing content DB 228associating future content contained in a program guide in the contentinformation DB 224 and information about viewing probabilities predictedby the user viewing prediction unit 232.

More concretely, like the matching unit 226 in FIG. 6, the matching unit230 performs matching processing of the user viewing DB 222 and thecontent information DB 224 to construct the user viewing content DB 228containing viewing user information of “past history”, “present state”,and “future plan”. Further, the matching unit 230 adds viewing userinformation viewing-predicted by the user viewing prediction unit 232 tothe user viewing content DB 228. For example, in the user viewingcontent DB 228 shown in FIG. 17, viewing user information of the user A(user ID of the user A and the viewing probability of 100%) and viewinguser information of the user B (user ID of the user B and the viewingprobability of 40%) are added to future content having the content ID“05” as viewing information of “future prediction” obtained from afuture prediction. This means that the user A will view content of thecontent ID “05” with the viewing probability of 100% and the user B willview the content with the viewing probability of 40%.

The user viewing content DB 228 containing future-predicted viewing userinformation is filtered in this manner by the filtering unit 218. Otherusers satisfying conditions of the shared level information are selectedby the filtering processing and viewing information of the selectedother users is extracted before being provided to the content viewingdevice 10.

FIG. 15 shows the user viewing content DB 228 (including a futureprediction) after being filtered for the user A. As shown in FIG. 18,the user viewing content DB 228 contains, in addition to the viewinguser information of “past history”, “present state”, and “future plan”shown in FIG. 15, viewing user information of “future prediction”. Thecontent viewing device 10 of the user A can present future predictioninformation of other users to the user A by receiving information of theuser viewing content DB 228 after the filtering.

In the foregoing, the configuration of the information management server20 according to the present embodiment and configuration examples ofvarious kinds of information handled by the information managementserver 20 have been described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 18.

Next, environment setting processing in the information sharing system 1according to the present embodiment will be described with reference toFIG. 19. FIG. 19 is a flow chart showing environment setting processing(group registration and user correlation information setting processing)in the information sharing system 1 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 19, the content viewing device 10 of the user A firsttransmits, based on input of the user A, a generation instruction of anew group X to the information management server 20 (step S10). Inresponse to the instruction, the information management server 20generates the new group X and registers the group X with the group DB216 (step S12).

Next, based on input of the user A, the content viewing device 10transmits a registration instruction of the user A with the group X tothe information management server 20 (step S14). In response to theinstruction, the information management server 20 registers the user Awith the group X (step S16). More concretely, the information managementserver 20 registers the user ID and user name of the user A as groupinformation of the group X of the group DB 216 (see FIG. 8). Similarly,other users B, C, . . . are registered with the group X (step S18).

Further, the user A sets user correlation information (closeness levelvalue) to the users B and C belong to the group X (steps S20, S22). Thatis, the content viewing device 10 of the user A transmits, based oninput of the user A, a setting instruction containing user correlationinformation (closeness level value) between the user A and users B, C, .. . to the information management server 20 (step S20). In response tothe instruction, the information management server 20 sets the usercorrelation information of the user A to the group DB 216 (step S22).More concretely, the information management server 20 sets the closenesslevel values of the user A to the users B, C, . . . as user correlationinformation of the user A in the group DB 216 (see FIG. 9). Similarly,the other users B, C, . . . set user correlation information to otherusers in the group X (step S24). Such user correlation informationsettings are basically made statically before viewing information beingshared in the content viewing device 10.

With the above processing, a group DB is constructed in the informationmanagement server 20 and environment settings for sharing viewinginformation among a plurality of users A, B, C, . . . belonging to thesame group X are completed.

Next, a method of sharing viewing information in the information sharingsystem 1 according to the present embodiment will be described withreference to FIG. 20. FIG. 20 is a flow chart showing the method ofsharing viewing information in the information sharing system 1according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 20, the user A first activates the content viewingdevice 10 and requests connection to the information management server20 (step S30). In response to the request, the information managementserver 20 authenticates the user A and permits connection of the contentviewing device 10 of the user A (step S32). Then, the user A uses thecontent viewing device 10 to view content of the desired channel.

Next, the user A sets, at an optional time of viewing the content,information disclosure level information and information acquisitionlevel information with respect to other users (steps S34 and S36). Morespecifically, the content viewing device 10 of the user A transmits,based on user input, information disclosure level information andinformation acquisition level information of the user A with respect toother users to the information management server 20 to instruct to setthe information (step S34). In response to the setting instruction, theinformation management server 20 sets the information disclosure levelinformation and information acquisition level information received fromthe content viewing device 10 of the user A to the group DB 216 (stepS36). More concretely, the information management server 20 sets theinformation disclosure level values and information acquisition levelvalues of the user A with respect to other users in the group X in thegroup DB 216 as the information disclosure level information andinformation acquisition level information of the user A (see FIG. 10).Similarly, the other users B, C, . . . also set the informationdisclosure level values and information acquisition level values withrespect to other users in the group X (step S38). The above setting ofinformation disclosure level information and information acquisitionlevel information can dynamically be adjusted while content is beingviewed in the content viewing device 10.

Then, the content viewing device 10 transmits viewing information (forexample, viewed content information such as the viewed channel, viewinglocation, and content ID, viewing state information, and enthusiasmdegree information) of the user A to the information management server20 while content is being viewed in the content viewing device 10 (stepS40). The information management server 20 stores the viewinginformation received from the content viewing device 10 of the user A inthe user viewing DB 222 (step S42).

The viewing information may contain not only information about contentcurrently being viewed by the user A, but also information about contentviewed in the past or content planned to be viewed in the future. Thecontent viewing device 10 may transmit viewing information of the user Aperiodically or when the viewed content is switched. Transmitted viewinginformation is handled securely by the user viewing content managementunit 220 of the information management server 20 while privacy is beingmanaged. However, it is also possible for the content viewing device 10of the user A not to transmit part or all of viewing information to theinformation management server 20 in accordance with the informationdisclosure level of the user A set at step S34 or S36.

Similarly, the content viewing devices 10 of the users B, C, . . .transmit viewing information of the users B, C, . . . to the informationmanagement server 20 and the information management server 20 stores theviewing information in the user viewing DB 222 (step S44). By repeatingS40 to S44, the information management server 20 collects viewinginformation of each user from each of the content viewing devices 10 andaccumulates the viewing information in the user viewing DB 222 (see FIG.12).

While collecting viewing information in this manner, the informationmanagement server 20 constructs the content information DB 224 based ona program guide such as EPG acquired from outside (step S46). Morespecifically, the user viewing content management unit 220 of theinformation management server 20 collects and analyzes metadata (forexample, the broadcasting time, program ID, and content ID of packagedmedia) and attribute information (for example, performers, the genre,and related content) of various kinds of content such as video/audiocontent of broadcasts, packaged media, and delivery media and gamecontent. Accordingly, the information management server 20 generatesprogram information of content suited to the information sharing system1 and stores the program information in the content information DB 224(see FIG. 13).

Next, the information management server 20 performs matching processingof viewing information of each user stored in the user viewing DB 222after being acquired from each of the content viewing devices 10 andcontent program information (program guide) stored in the contentinformation DB 224 to construct the user viewing content DB 228 (stepS50). The user viewing content DB 228 is information in which contentcontained in the content program information and viewing userinformation of the content are associated (see FIGS. 14 and 17). In theuser viewing content DB 228, viewing user information of users in thegroup X is sorted according to content in a program guidechronologically and shows which user viewed which content.

Next, based on input of the user A, the content viewing device 10 of theuser A transmits a viewing information request of other users (step S52)and the information management server 20 receives the viewinginformation request of other users (step S54). In response to theviewing information request from the content viewing device 10, theinformation management server 20 performs privacy management inaccordance with the shared level setting among users in the group X toperform optimal filtering processing and then, extracts viewinginformation of other users in the group X from the user viewing contentDB 228 (step S56) before transmitting the viewing information to thecontent viewing device 10 of the user A (step S58). Details of thefiltering processing will be described later (see FIG. 21).

As a result, the content viewing device 10 of the user A receivesviewing information of other users from the information managementserver 20 and displays the viewing information of other users inparallel with reproduced video of content being viewed (step S60).Accordingly, while viewing content, the user A can know informationabout other users B, C, . . . in the group X viewing the content. Atthis point, by performing filtering processing in accordance withsettings of the information disclosure level and information acquisitionlevel among users, the shared level of viewing information can beadjusted even among users in the same group.

Next, filtering processing of viewing information in the informationsharing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be describedwith reference to FIG. 21. FIG. 21 is a flow chart showing filteringprocessing in the information sharing system 1 according to the presentembodiment. Processing in FIG. 21 corresponds to S50 to S60 in FIG. 20.

As shown in FIG. 21, the information management server 20 generates theuser viewing content DB 228 in advance based on viewing informationreceived from each of the content viewing devices 10 (step S50). Theuser viewing content DB 228 is created, as described above, by addingviewing user information sorted according to content to programinformation of content and is constructed as a content program guidewith user viewing information.

If, in this state, the content viewing device 10 of the user A transmitsa viewing information request of other users (step S52) and theinformation management server 20 receives the viewing informationrequest from the requesting content viewing device 10 (step S54), theinformation management server 20 performs filtering processing S56-1 toS56-6 shown below (corresponding to S56 in FIG. 20).

The information management server 20 first selects, based on the groupDB 216, one or two or more users X within the range of the informationrequest level of the user A (step S56-1). More specifically, theinformation management server 20 first refers to group information ofthe group DB 216 to identify users belonging to the same group as theuser A. Next, the information management server 20 reads informationacquisition level information (information acquisition level value) ofthe user A and user correlation function (closeness level value) aboutthe user A set in the group DB 216 to compare the closeness level valueof the user A with respect to each user with the information acquisitionlevel value of the user A. In accordance with a comparison resultthereof, the information management server 20 selects users X whosecloseness level value is equal to or greater than the informationacquisition level value of the user A (see FIG. 5). Such users X areusers within the range of the information request level of the user A.The user selection processing at step S56-1 is the first user selectionprocessing based on the information acquisition level of the requestinguser A.

Next, the information management server 20 checks the informationdisclosure level of each user X (step S56-2) to determine whether theuser A is included in the range of the information disclosure level ofeach user X (step S56-3). If, as a result of the determination, the userA is determined not to be included in the range of the informationdisclosure level of each user X, the information management server 20determines not to disclose viewing information of the user X to the userA (step S56-4). If, on the other hand, the user A is determined to beincluded in the range of the information disclosure level of each userX, the information management server 20 determines to disclose viewinginformation of the user X to the user A (step S56-5).

More specifically, the information management server 20 first readsinformation disclosure level information (information disclosure levelvalue) of each user X and user correlation function (closeness levelvalue) of each user X with respect to the user A set in the group DB 216to compare the closeness level value of each user X with respect to theuser A with the information disclosure level value of each user X. Inaccordance with a comparison result thereof, the information managementserver 20 selects users X whose closeness level value with respect tothe user A is equal to or greater than the information disclosure levelvalue of the users X (see FIG. 5). Such users X are users within therange of the information request level of the user A and also users forwhom the user A is included within the range of the informationdisclosure level of these users. The user selection processing at stepsS56-2 to S56-4 is the second user selection processing based on theinformation disclosure level of the other user X.

Next, the information management server 20 extracts viewing informationof the user X selected as described above from the user viewing contentDB 228 and, based on the extracted information, generates viewinginformation of the other user X to be provided to the user A (stepS56-6) before transmitting the viewing information to the contentviewing device 10 of the user A (step S58).

Then, the content viewing device 10 of the user A receives the viewinginformation of the other user X to be provided to the user A from theinformation management server 20 and displays the viewing information inparallel with content being viewed (step S60).

In the foregoing, filtering processing according to the presentembodiment has been described. Accordingly, privacy can be managed bylimiting other users whose viewing information should be disclosed inaccordance with user settings and also the range of other users fromwhom acquisition of viewing information is desired by a user can beadjusted.

Next, a display example of viewing information of other users in thecontent viewing device 10 according to the present embodiment will bedescribed.

As described in FIG. 3, the content viewing device 10 can displayviewing information of other users acquired from the informationmanagement server 20 in a display screen of the display unit 132 inparallel with video of content being reproduced. At this point, theviewing information display control unit 146 of the content viewingdevice 10 can identify other users viewing the same content as contentviewed by the user of the local device based on viewing information ofother users received from the information management server 20. Then,the viewing information display control unit 146 causes the display unit132 to display user information representing the identified other users.The user information that can identify each of other users may be used,for example, text information representing other users (for example,user names and text representing nicknames), images (for example, facephotos of other users and portraits), icons (for example, pictorialsymbols representing faces of other users), marks, figures, symbols, andcharacters. An example in which face icons are used as user informationwill mainly be described below, but the present invention is not limitedto this example.

FIGS. 22 to 26 are explanatory diagrams showing examples of the displayscreen of viewing information of other users displayed together withcontent being reproduced in the content viewing device 10 according tothe present embodiment.

In the example in FIG. 22, video 160 of content currently beingreproduced (for example, program content being broadcast) and face icons170 (corresponding to the user information) representing three otherusers viewing the content are displayed in the in a display screen 150of the content viewing device 10. Accordingly, the user A of the contentviewing device 10 knows that three other users are viewing content ofthe same channel “display screen 150 BS digital, channel 123” as theuser A.

In the example in FIG. 22, a display area of the display screen 150 isdivided into a content display area 152 for displaying content beingreproduced and an application information display area 154. Theapplication information display area 154 is an area for displayingvarious kinds of information (for example, the weather forecast,fortunes, and news) provided by applications held by the content viewingdevice 10. The face icons 170 are displayed in the applicationinformation display area 154 and become information provided by aviewing information sharing application held by the content viewingdevice 10.

In the example in FIG. 23, the three face icons 170 are displayed in aform superimposed on video 162 of content currently being reproduced ina lower part of the display screen 150 of the content viewing device 10.

In the example in FIG. 24, the three face icons 170 are displayed in auser information display area 180 provided in a relatively smallrectangular shape in a form superimposed on video 162 of contentcurrently being reproduced in a lower right part of the display screen150 of the content viewing device 10.

In the example in FIG. 25, the three face icons 170 representing otherusers viewing content being reproduced in the content viewing device 10are displayed in a display screen 192 of a mobile device 190 that cancommunicate with the content viewing device 10 by radio. The mobiledevice 190 is, for example, a multi-functional remote controller, PDA,mobile phone, mobile video/audio player, and mobile game machine. Inthis case, user information of other users is transmitted from thecontent viewing device 10 to the mobile device 190 so that the userinformation can be displayed by the content viewing device 10 and themobile device 190 linked together.

In the example in FIG. 26, the content display area of the displayscreen 150 of the content viewing device 10 is divided into a pluralityof display areas 152A to 152E to simultaneously display content beingbroadcast by a plurality of mutually different channels in each of thedisplay areas 152A to 152E. At this point, face icons 170A to 170D ofother users viewing content of each broadcasting channel are displayedat location corresponding to each of the display areas 152A to 152D asviewing information of other users. For example, content being broadcastby “channel 123” is displayed in the display area 152C and the faceicons 170C of three other users viewing the content are displayed in thelower part of the display area 152C. Content being broadcast by “channel115” is displayed in the display area 152E, but the face icon 170 is notdisplayed in the display area 152E because there is no other use who isviewing the content (or there is no other user who discloses viewinginformation to the user A). Because of the display form of FIG. 26, theuser A of the content viewing device 10 can easily and swiftly knowpresence/absence of other users viewing content of the plurality ofmutually different channels and the number of users.

Next, a method of displaying viewing information of other usersdisplayed in program guide form in the content viewing device 10according to the present embodiment will be described.

The user viewing content DB 228 of the information management server 20according to the present embodiment has, as described above, a datastructure in program guide form. That is, the user viewing content DB228 has a data structure in which viewing information of a plurality ofusers is sorted separately according to present content, past content,and future content contained in a program guide and viewing userinformation is associated with each piece of content. Thus, informationin which content and viewing user information are associated can beextracted from the user viewing content DB 228, which is then providedto each of the content viewing devices 10 as viewing information ofother users classified and arranged in program guide form. Therefore,the content viewing device 10 of each user can display viewinginformation of other users by associating with a program guide byreceiving viewing information of the other users classified and arrangedin program guide form from the information management server 20.Consequently, the user of the content viewing device 10 can easily knowviewing information of other users about present, past, and futurecontent by looking at a program guide to which such viewing informationof other users is added so that the user can easily and aptly selectcontent the user himself (herself) desires to view.

Such a program guide to which viewing information of other usersclassified on a content basis is added is generated by the viewinginformation display control unit 146 (see FIG. 3) of the content viewingdevice 10 and displayed in the display unit 132. The viewing informationdisplay control unit 146 performs image processing so that viewinginformation of other users classified and arranged in program guide formacquired from the information management server 20 is displayed byassociating with individual fields of a program guide. As a result, asshown below, a program guide including viewing information of otherusers is displayed in the display screen 150 of the content viewingdevice 10.

Display examples of viewing information of other users displayed inprogram guide form in the content viewing device 10 according to thepresent embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 27 to33.

First, a display example of a user program guide 300 in calendar form(in months) shown in FIG. 27 will be described. As shown in FIG. 27,viewing information of other users is displayed in the display screen150 of the content viewing device 10 of the user A as the user programguide 300 in calendar form. The user program guide 300 in calendar formuses the current time as the reference to color-code the display so thatan area 302 (with shading) representing the current and past dates andan area 306 (in white) representing the future date can be distinguishedand a frame display 304 is provided to the field of the current date.Accordingly, the user can easily know the arrangement of dates in theuser program guide 300. Moreover, an icon 310 of the user A is displayedas information showing the user A himself (herself) next to the userprogram guide 300 and icons 312 of users B to G registered in the samegroup as the user A are displayed below the icon 310.

The user program guide 300 in calendar form lists viewing information ofother users for each date of a month. That is, in the field of each dateof the user program guide 300 in calendar form, information of otherusers who have viewed/are viewing/plan to view/are predicted to viewcontent on that date is displayed as icons 320.

In the field of June 6, which is a past date, for example, the icons 320of two other users who viewed content on that date are displayed. In thefield of June 12, which is a present date, the icons 320 of three otherusers who view content today or are currently viewing content aredisplayed. In the field of June 26, which is a future date, the icons320 of two other users who plan to view content on that date (forexample, who have made a viewing setting or recording setting for thatdate) are displayed. The icons 320 of the future-predicted other usersare also displayed in the fields of future dates.

By displaying the icon 320, which is viewing information of other users,and the dates by associating the icon 320 and the dates in the userprogram guide 300 in calendar form, viewing tendencies of each user suchas on which day of a month (for example, what day of the week and thefirst half of a month) each user often views content can be known indates. For example, the user A can know at-home days of the user B, whois a lover of the user A, and days of the week when the user B oftenwatch TV broadcasting to better understand hobbies and behavioralpatterns of the user B by searching for the icon 320 of the user B.

FIG. 28 is an enlarged view of the field of June 12 (field in which adisplay frame 304 is provided), which is the present date, in the userprogram guide 300. As shown in FIG. 28, the icons 320 of three otherusers D, F, and G who viewed content today or are currently viewingcontent are displayed in the present date field. Accordingly, the user Acan know that the users D, F, and G are at home to view content. Inaddition, marks 314 and 316 indicating a viewing history of the user Aor the like are also displayed in the field. For example, thestar-shaped mark 314 is a mark indicating that the user A has viewedcontent today and the flag-shaped mark 316 is a mark indicating thatthat user A has recorded content for today by making a recordingsetting. By displaying the marks 314 and 316 representing a viewinghistory of the user A himself (herself), the user A can check a viewingschedule of the user A himself (herself).

If the user A selects the field of some date in the user program guide300 in which viewing information in dates is displayed in calendar formas described above, a user program guide 330 in dates for the selecteddate is displayed (see FIG. 29).

Next, a display example of the user program guide 330 in dates shown inFIG. 29 will be described. FIG. 30 is an enlarged view of a portion ofFIG. 29. As shown in FIG. 29, like a general electronic program guide,the user program guide 330 in dates is a program guide in which contentof each broadcasting channel is chronologically arranged. In thisprogram guide, content broadcast to the content viewing device 10 isarranged by classifying the content in tabular form by broadcastingchannel and by time zone.

The user program guide 330 in dates is displayed in such a way that anarea 321 (with shading) representing content already started tobroadcast and an area 326 (in white) representing content not yetbroadcast can be distinguished with the current time being used as thereference and also a line 328 indicating the current time is displayed.Further, a frame display 324 is provided to content currently beingviewed (that is, content being broadcast by the channel currently tunedin to). Accordingly, the user A can easily know whether or not contentin the user program guide 330 has started to broadcast and content theuser A himself (herself) is currently viewing. Moreover, like FIG. 27,the icon 310 of the user A and the icons 312 of the users B to Gbelonging to the same group as the user A are displayed next to the userprogram guide 330.

In a field representing each piece of content in the user program guide330, information of other users who have viewed/are viewing/plan toview/are predicted to view content in that field is displayed by theicon 320. For example, in the field of content in the past whosebroadcasting started at 10 in “channel 3”, the icon 320 of one otheruser who viewed the content in the past is displayed. In the field ofcontent whose broadcasting started at 11 in “channel 8” and is currentlycontinuing, the icons 320 of three other users who are currently viewingthe content are displayed. In the field of content to be broadcast inthe future whose broadcasting will start at 12 in “channel 6”, the icons320 of two other users who plan to view (or are predicted to view) thecontent in the future are displayed. FIG. 30 is an enlarged view of thefield to which the frame display 324 is provided in FIG. 29 and, asshown in FIG. 30, the icons 320 of three other users D, F, and G who arecurrently viewing the content and also the broadcast start time “11:00”and “Program name A” of the content are displayed in the field of thecontent currently being viewed.

In the user program guide 330 in dates, as described above, the icon320, which is viewing information of other users, is displayed byassociating with content in each channel and each time zone.Accordingly, the user A can know which content other users in the grouphave viewed/are viewing/plan to view on that date. Particularly if theuser A can know other users who are viewing the currently viewingcontent, the conversation about the content with the other users willbecome lively.

Also, if other users who are friends of the user A are viewing contentof a channel different from that of the user A, an opportunity is givento the user A to switch the channel to view the same content as thefriends. Moreover, if other users who are friends of the user A plan toview content to be broadcast tonight, an opportunity is given to theuser A to view the content, which is unknown to the user A.

Next, display examples of user program guides 340 and 350 about contentcurrently being broadcast will be described with reference to FIG. 31and FIG. 32. FIG. 31 shows the user program guide 340 representing aplurality of channels and FIG. 32 shows the user program guide 350representing a single channel.

In the display screen 150 of the content viewing device 10, as shown inFIG. 31 and FIG. 32, the video 160 (video of a soccer game) of contentof “channel 8” currently being viewed by the user A is displayed in theupper part of the screen and the icon 310 of the user A and the userprogram guides 340 and 350 are displayed in the lower part of thescreen. By displaying the video 160 currently being viewed by the user Aand the user program guides 340 and 350 in parallel in this manner, theuser A can know viewing information of other users about programscurrently being broadcast while viewing the content.

Like the user program guide 330 in FIG. 29, the user program guide 340in FIG. 31 is a program guide in which content of a plurality ofbroadcasting channels is chronologically arranged and displays programcontent of the plurality of channels currently being broadcast inprogram guide form. In the user program guide 340, information of otherusers who are currently viewing content represented a field of eachchannel is displayed in the field by the icon 320.

For example, in the field of content of “channel 8” viewed by the userA, the icons 320 of three other users who are viewing the content aredisplayed. Thus, the user A can know that the three other users who arefriends are viewing the same program content as the user A. Also in thefields of content of other “channels 6/10”, the icon 320 of one otheruser viewing the content is displayed respectively. Accordingly, theuser A can recognize that one other user is viewing program content thatis different from that of the user A.

In the user program guide 340, the channel currently being viewed by theuser A and other channels may be made easily identifiable by changingthe display mode (for example, shading is added, like the illustratedexample) or by providing a display frame (not shown) to only the fieldof content of the channel currently being viewed by the user A.

The user program guide 350 in FIG. 32 is a program guide in which onlycontent of the “channel 8” currently being viewed by the user A ischronologically arranged and information of other channels is left out.Therefore, the user program guide 350 can display information of otherusers about the “channel 8” currently being viewed by the user A largerand in more detail. In the user program guide 350, information of otherusers who are currently viewing/plan to view or are predicted to view inthe future content represented by a field is displayed by the icon 320and an icon 322 in the field representing content in each time zoneregarding one channel currently being viewed. Accordingly, the user Acan know viewing information of other users of the channel currentlybeing viewed by the user A.

In FIG. 32, the icon 322, which is different from the normal icon 320,is used as viewing information of other users regarding future content.The icon 322 represents a result of a future prediction of content bythe user viewing prediction unit 232 (see FIG. 7) of the informationmanagement server 20. In the present embodiment, as described above,attributes of viewing information of other users provided to the contentviewing device 10 include “planned viewing” and “future prediction”.“Planned viewing” is information representing planned viewing of futurecontent by the user and is determined based on setting information suchas viewing settings and recording settings made by the user. “Futureprediction”, on the other hand, is information representing futureprediction of future content by the user and is predicted by calculatinga viewing probability based on a viewing history of the user andattribute information of content. Thus, “planned viewing” and “futureprediction” have different properties.

Here, a display example of future prediction results of future contentin the display screen 150 of the content viewing device 10 will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 33. FIG. 33 is an enlarged view of FIG.32. As shown in FIG. 33, the icon 322 representing a future predictionresult of content by a user is displayed in a form reflecting theviewing probability of future content by the user. Such forms include(A) the transparency of the icon 322 is changed in accordance with theviewing probability, (B) the size of the icon 322 is changed inaccordance with the viewing probability, (C) the probability is shownnext to the icon 322.

In the form of (A), the icon 322 is displayed with increasingtransparency as the predicted viewing probability of content increases.If, for example, the viewing probability is 100%, the transparency is100% and the opaque icon 322 is displayed. If the viewing probability is0%, the transparency is 0% and the icon 322 becomes invisible. In theillustrated example, the viewing probability is 75% and the icon 322 isdisplayed with 75% of transparency (depth) of the normal icon 320.

In the form of (B), the icon 322 is displayed with an increasing size asthe predicted viewing probability of content increases. If, for example,the viewing probability is 100%, the icon 322 of the size of 100% isdisplayed. If the viewing probability is 0%, the icon 322 becomesinvisible. In the illustrated example, the viewing probability is 75%and the icon 322 is displayed with the size of 75% of the normal icon320.

In the form of (C), text information representing the predicted viewingprobability of content is displayed next to the icon 322. Accordingly,the user can accurately know the value of the viewing probability.

By changing the display mode of viewing probability of other users ofthe icon 322 and the like in accordance with the predicted viewingprobability, as described above, the user can know not only whether ornot other users will view future content, but also viewing probabilitiesthereof. Thus, the user can use viewing probabilities of other users asa judgment material for selecting future content.

In the foregoing, the information sharing system 1 according to thepresent embodiment and the information sharing method using thereof havebeen described in detail. According to the present embodiment, viewinginformation of users of a plurality of content viewing devices 10 isshared via the information management server 20 and viewing informationof other users is provided to each user after being filtered inaccordance with viewing content of each user.

Accordingly, when a user views content such as video/audio/games,viewing information of other users who are currently viewing (haveviewed/plan to view) the content can be displayed in the screen of thecontent viewing device 10 in parallel with content information. Whenviewing program content of TV broadcasting, for example, the user candisplay viewing information of other users viewing program content ofthe channel tuned in to by the user in the screen of the content viewingdevice 10 together with content being viewed.

Therefore, the user can know which user is viewing that content on acontent basis. Consequently, the user can get an opportunity to viewcontent such as “If that person is viewing, let's try to view” or anopportunity to view content together with other users such as “If I canview together with that person, let's try to view”. Thus, the nature ofplan for content viewing is enhanced and usefulness of the contentviewing device is increased.

Further, in the present embodiment, the information management server 20constructs the user viewing content DB 228 in program guide form basedon viewing information collected from each of the content viewingdevices 10. That is, the user viewing content DB 228 has a datastructure in which viewing information of a plurality of users is sortedseparately according to present content, past content, and futurecontent contained in a program guide and viewing user information isassociated with each piece of content. Thus, the information managementserver 20 can extract viewing information of other users classified andarranged in program guide form from the user viewing content DB 228 toprovide the viewing information to each of the content viewing devices10. Therefore, the content viewing device 10 of each user can displaythe user program guides 300, 330, 340, 350 associating viewinginformation of other users classified and arranged in program guide formacquired from the information management server 20 in parallel withcontent video or alone.

Thus, each user can easily know viewing information of other users aboutpresent, past, and future content by looking at the user program guides300, 330, 340, 350 so that the user can easily and appropriately selectcontent desired by the user to view. Thus, in the present embodiment,when a user selects content to be viewed by looking at a program guide,the user can select viewing content based on an information source otherthan program content (that is, viewing information of other users) andtherefore, new selection criteria can be created.

Further, the information management server 20 provides not only aviewing history in the past, the present viewing state, and a viewingstate in the future, but also future predictions including viewingprobabilities calculated based on a predetermined estimation algorithmto each of the content viewing devices 10 as viewing information of eachuser. Accordingly, the content viewing device 10 can display viewinginformation of other users extending over the past, present, and futurein program guide form.

Thus, users in a group can mutually share information such as plannedviewing and future predictions about future content and a judgmentmaterial for selecting viewing of future content can be obtained otherthan substance of content in a program guide. Therefore, an opportunitycan be given to view content planned to be broadcast in the future, aswell as present content.

The above user program guides 300, 330, 340, 350 extending over thepast, present, and future can be used for viewing not only present orfuture content, but also past content. For example, a user can determinewhether or not to view a TV program recorded the previous day bypresenting a lineup of other users who viewed the program while beingbroadcast, comments while being viewed (such as user video/audio),viewing state information, and enthusiasm degree information to theuser.

Further, in the present embodiment, shared level information includingthe information disclosure level and information acquisition level ofeach user is set in the information management server 20 and, based onthe shared level information, viewing information of other users to beprovided to each user is filtered. Accordingly, privacy management inaccordance with the information disclosure level setting among users canbe performed. Also, the user can optionally adjust the range of usersfrom whom viewing information should be acquired by the informationacquisition level setting and thus, the range of viewing information canbe adjusted in accordance with ideas of the user. Accordingly, forexample, the range of acquisition of viewing information can be limitedto a group of close users such as family members or conversely,broadened to a group of many users who are not so close such as friends'friends.

In addition, there is a possibility of extending the SNS service thathas been specialized to specific devices such as personal computers (PC)and mobile phones in related art to a new user base of non-PC users.Also, users of PCs and mobile phones in related art can feelcircumstances or signs of what other users such as family members andfriends are doing through the content viewing device 10 (such as a TVset). Thus, enhanced convenience, as compared with that of devices suchas PCs and mobile phones whose activation time or display size islimited, can be provided.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications, combinations, sub-combinations, and alterations may occurdepending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they arewithin the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

In the above embodiment, for example, an example of program content ofTV broadcasting has been taken as content to be viewed in the contentviewing device 10, but the present invention is not limited to such anexample. For example, the present invention can also be applied when auser of the content viewing device 10 views an optional piece of contentsuch as other video content, music content, games, and electroniclibraries.

The program guide in the present invention is not limited to an exampleof a program guide constituted by EPG according to the above embodimentor the like and optional schedule information in which a schedule ofcontent commonly viewable among a plurality of the content viewingdevices 10 is set can be used. For example, the program guide includes aschedule table of delivery content from the content delivery server 9and a program guide of radio broadcasting. The program guide in thepresent invention can also be applied when a viewing schedule is sharedby a group scheduler or the like in advance by coordinating the viewingtime of shared content among users of a group. Thus, the program guidemay be not only public program guides distributed from broadcastingstations to the public, but also private schedule tables in whichviewing plans of content are optionally set among users.

Information disclosure level information and information acquisitionlevel information are set in the above embodiment, but it is alsoallowed to set only one of the two types of information. Level valuesettings of such information are not limited to five and an optionalnumber of level values may be set.

In the above embodiment, information of other users viewing contentcurrently being broadcast is displayed while the content currently beingbroadcast is viewed, but the present invention is not limited to such anexample. For example, when content recorded in the past is viewed,information of other users who viewed the content (or who had made arecording setting of the content) may be displayed. Accordingly, theuser can determine whether or not to view the recorded content withreference to a viewing history of other users.

1. An information processing apparatus communicable with a plurality ofcontent viewing devices via a network, comprising: a viewing informationreceiving unit configured to receive from each of the content viewingdevices viewing information, said viewing information includinginformation representing at least one content previously viewed by auser on at least one of the content viewing devices, content beingviewed by the user at present, and content planned to be viewed by theuser in the future; a user viewing content management unit configured tomanage a user viewing content database based on the viewing informationreceived from the at least one of the content viewing device, and aprogram guide indicating a plurality of contents available to each ofthe content viewing devices, wherein the user viewing content databaseassociates, in a form of a program guide, past, present, and futurecontents represented in the program guide and identification informationof users who at least one of have viewed the past content, are viewingthe present content, and will view the future content; an informationextraction unit configured to extract from the content database viewinginformation of another user including information representing contentviewed by the another user in the past, at the present, and in thefuture in response to a request from the user for the viewinginformation of the another user; and a viewing information transmittingunit configured to transmit the extracted viewing information of theanother user to the requesting content viewing device.
 2. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a user viewing prediction unit configured to predict contentthat may viewed by respective users of the content viewing devices basedon the viewing information received from each of the content viewingdevices and attribute information of content contained in the programguide, wherein the user viewing content management unit generates theuser viewing content database by associating future content representedin the program guide and the user predicted by the user viewingprediction unit to view the future content.
 3. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the user viewingprediction unit is configured to calculate a viewing probability thatthe future content will be viewed by respective users of the contentviewing devices based on a predetermined algorithm using the viewinginformation received from each of the content viewing devices and theattribute information of content contained in the program guide, and theuser viewing content management unit is configured to generate the userviewing content database by associating future content represented inthe program guide and information about the viewing probabilitycalculated by the user viewing prediction unit.
 4. An informationprocessing method employed in an information processing apparatuscommunicable with a plurality of content viewing devices via a network,comprising the steps of: receiving, from each of the plurality ofcontent viewing devices, viewing information including information onpast viewed content, presently viewed content, and content to be viewedin the future; managing a user viewing content database based on theviewing information received from at least one of the content viewingdevices, and a program guide indicating a plurality of contentsavailable to each of the content viewing devices, the user viewingcontent database associating, in a form of program guide, past, present,and future contents represented in the program guide and identificationinformation of users who at least one of have viewed the past content,are viewing the present content, and will view the future content;extracting the viewing information of another user including informationrepresenting content viewed by another user in the past, at the present,and in the future from the user viewing content database in response toa request for viewing information of another user from the viewingdevice; and transmitting the extracted viewing information of anotheruser to the requesting content viewing device.
 5. The method of claim 4,further comprising: predicting with a user viewing prediction unitcontent that may viewed by respective users of the content viewingdevices based on the viewing information received from each of thecontent viewing devices and attribute information of content containedin the program guide; and generating data for the user viewing contentdatabase by associating future content represented in the program guideand predicting the user to view the future content.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, wherein the predicting step includes calculating a viewingprobability that the future content will be viewed by respective usersof the content viewing devices based on a predetermined algorithm usingthe viewing information received from each of the content viewingdevices and the attribute information of content contained in theprogram guide, and the generating data step includes generating the userviewing content database by associating future content represented inthe program guide and information about the viewing probabilitycalculated by the predicting step.
 7. A computer program product havinginstructions that when read by a CPU cause an information processingapparatus communicable with a plurality of content viewing devices via anetwork to execute the steps of: receiving, from each of the pluralityof content viewing devices, viewing information including information onpast viewed content, presently viewed content, and content to be viewedin the future; managing a user viewing content database based on theviewing information received from at least one of the content viewingdevices, and a program guide indicating a plurality of contentsavailable to each of the content viewing devices, the user viewingcontent database associating, in a form of program guide, past, present,and future contents represented in the program guide and identificationinformation of users who at least one of have viewed the past content,are viewing the present content, and will view the future content;extracting the viewing information of another user including informationrepresenting content viewed by another user in the past, at the present,and in the future from the user viewing content database in response toa request for viewing information of another user from the viewingdevice; and transmitting the extracted viewing information of anotheruser to the requesting content viewing device.
 8. The computer programproduct of claim 8, further comprising steps of: predicting with a userviewing prediction unit content that may viewed by respective users ofthe content viewing devices based on the viewing information receivedfrom each of the content viewing devices and attribute information ofcontent contained in the program guide; and generating data for the userviewing content database by associating future content represented inthe program guide and predicting the user to view the future content. 9.The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the predicting stepincludes calculating a viewing probability that the future content willbe viewed by respective users of the content viewing devices based on apredetermined algorithm using the viewing information received from eachof the content viewing devices and the attribute information of contentcontained in the program guide, and the generating data step includesgenerating the user viewing content database by associating futurecontent represented in the program guide and information about theviewing probability calculated by the predicting step.
 10. Aninformation sharing system, comprising: a plurality of content viewingdevices configured to display content provided by a content providingdevice; and an information processing apparatus communicable with thecontent viewing devices via a network, wherein the informationprocessing apparatus includes a viewing information receiving unitconfigured to receive from each of the content viewing devices viewinginformation, said viewing information including information representingat least one content previously viewed by a user on at least one of thecontent viewing devices, content being viewed by the user at present,and content planned to be viewed by the user in the future; a userviewing content management unit configured to manage a user viewingcontent database based on the viewing information received from the atleast one of the content viewing device, and a program guide indicatinga plurality of contents available to each of the content viewingdevices, wherein the user viewing content database associates, in a formof a program guide, past, present, and future contents represented inthe program guide and identification information of users who at leastone of have viewed the past content, are viewing the present content,and will view the future content, an information extraction unitconfigured to extract from the content database viewing information ofanother user including information representing content viewed by theanother user in the past, at the present, and in the future from theuser viewing content database in response to a request for the viewinginformation of the another user from the content viewing device, and aviewing information transmitting unit configured to transmit theextracted viewing information of the another user to the requestingcontent viewing device; and the content viewing device includes aviewing information transmitting unit configured to transmit to theinformation processing apparatus the viewing information includinginformation representing at least one of content viewed by a user in thepast, at the present, and in the future, a viewing information receivingunit configured to receive the extracted viewing information of anotheruser from the information processing apparatus; and a display unitconfigured to display the extracted viewing information of another useras a program guide.